I had a chance to get out and fish with my good friend Scott Reed who is a Berkley Territory Manager.We started out in front of his cabin on the East side of Spirit.Last year at this time we had a few great days on the ice at this location.The key is to find the weedlines and fish them.I had these previous spots in the GPS but they did not hold weeds this year.We spent a few hours punching holes and looking for weeds but no luck.
Scott ran and got the 4 wheeler and decided to make a run out to the middle of the lake.The ice was good all the way out which was about a 2 mile run.We set up in 21′ of water and it wasn’t long and I iced a nice 11" perch of a blue/silver Pilkie tipped with 2 wigglers.
We fished this area for 3 hours and I ended up with 5 perch.Scott picked up 3 small walleyes.We had fish under us almost the whole time but could not get them to bite.I tried numerous different jig/lure combos with little luck.2 perch on Pilkies,2 perch on Glow Devil,and 1 off a Northland forage minnow.It was nice to see alot of fish on the screen but they did not want to bite.
Sorry for only 1 picture but camera was not working the best.Scott and I spent a hour trying to get un-stuck with the 4 wheeler.The snow is very deep at the some of the boat ramps and other areas to get on the ice.Use caution if you plan on driving on the ice.Hope to see a few of you on the ice this year.
Ryan Hale
Thanks for the report Ryan. I’m looking forward to icing a few of those Spirtit Lake Perch myself. Looks like Sunday is the day.
See ya on the ice.